This invention relates to waterbed mattresses and to pneumatic mattresses, and more particularly to an improved interior construction of same.
Waterbed mattresses are known to provide many advantages in terms of comfort and restfulness. More recently, improved pneumatic mattresses have also been available with some of the comfort advantages of waterbed mattresses. These various mattresses, however, could be improved. For example, many such mattresses consist of a vinyl envelope with the interior cavity thereof substantially open. Such mattresses are subject to considerable bowing since the top and bottom of the mattress are connected together only at the sides of the mattress. In addition, undesirable wave action can result with such mattresses when a user moves about on the mattress.
Various damping mechanisms have been proposed to deal with the wave action problem, but these can be fairly complex and expensive. Similarly, at least one mattress has been designed with a plurality of extruded plastic walls extending from the top to the bottom of the mattress, but that design can be improved as well. For example, although the interior wall construction does tend to prevent bowing, the seams of these individual walls where they are connected to the top and bottom of the mattress tend to separate because of the forces involved. In addition, the anti-bowing walls are made of a fairly rigid material which tends to be uncomfortable to the user and result in a mattress which is rigidly constrained in terms of the maximum permissible bowing. Applied forces which attempt to exceed the maximum bowing allowed by the interior anti-bowing walls place extreme stress on the seams.